Finned heating unit with side guide rails



1968 A. FALSO 3,395,753

FINNED HEATING UNIT WITH SIDE GUIDE RAILS Filed March 17, 1967 8 F55 fl T U E vvvnvroe.

ADOLPH FALSO United Stats act 3,395,753 FINNED HEATING UNIT WITH SIDE GUIDE RAILS Adolph Falso, Fayetteville, N.Y., assignor to Thor Metal Products Co., Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 623,901 Claims. (Cl. 165-55) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A baseboard heating unit having a back plate and a front plate. Brackets secured to the back plate removably support the front plate spaced from the back and have arms extending under a finned heating coil. Upwardly projecting tongues on the brackets at either end of the arms have ends adjacent front and back plates for supporting elongated shouldered guide rails extending longitudinally of the tube and secured to the front and back ends of the fins intermediate the tops and bottoms thereof.

Background of the invention This invention relates to finned tube and baseboard radiation units and, more particularly to an improved means for supporting the finned tube therein to allow for expansion and contraction thereof and to improve the passage of convection currents therethrough.

Where finned tubes are used for heating the expansion and contraction of the tube as it is heated or cooled has long been recognized. In baseboard heaters where the finned tube is supported on transverse brackets attempts to solve the problem have been made by covering the brackets with a plastic pad or by providing plastic rails at the corners of the fins to allow the fins to move with respect to the brackets without objectionable noise.

Such pads or rails, however, interfere with the convection currents of air passing up between the fins and lower the efliciency of the radiation of heat from the finned tube.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention the above problems are avoided and improved means for supporting the finned tube in the heater are provided which are economical and eflicient. The tube fins are provided with flanges extending longitudinally of the tube at front and back sides. These flanges provide means for securing longitudinally extending plastic rails to the fins. Upwardly projecting tongues on the tube support brackets, adjacent front and rear of the heater, have ends on which the rails rest adjacent front and back walls of the heater with the fins disposed substantially above the necessary cross arm 9f the brackets.

The plastic rails insulate the metal brackets from the tube fins, allow the tube and fins to move with respect to the brackets without noise upon expansion or contraction of the tube, and substantially fill the spaces between front and back edges of the fins and front and back Walls of the heater constricting the passage for convection currents of air to the spaces between the fins.

The principal object of the invention, accordingly, is to provide support means for a finned tube in a baseboard heater which allows the tube to expand or contract without objectionable noise.

Another important object is to provide such support means with minimum obstruction of the passage for convection currents.

A further object is to provide such support means which constrict the space between front and back of the 3,395,753 Patented Aug. 6, 1968 Brief description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front perspective view of a heating unit according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view, partly in section, on an enlarged scale showing the finned tube of FIGURE 1 and its support means;

FIGURE 3 is a plan View of one of the tube fins of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary end and edge elevational views respectively of a tube fin showing one embodiment of the means for securing track members to the fins;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are cross-sectional and side elevational views, respectively, of a track member for use therewith;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary end view of a modified form of support bracket;

FIGURES 9 and 10 are fragmentary end and edge elevational views, respectively, similar to FIGURES 4 and 5, of a tube fin showing another embodiment of the means for securing track members to the fins; and

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view of a track member for use therewith.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to FIGURE 1, a baseboard heater unit 12 is shown having a housing back wall member 13, adapted to be secured to the baseboard portion of a wall, a front wall member 14, and bracket members 15, secured to the back Wall member to which the front wall member is adapted to be removably secured.

A finned tube assembly, comprising a tube 16 and a plurality of rectangular fins 17 secured thereto, is shown supported on brackets 15. Each fin is of very thin sheet metal and is provided at front and rear with flanges 18 extending longitudinally of the tube for spacing the fins on the tube and the usual circularly flanged hole 19 at the center of the fin through which tube 16 passes. Each flange 18 may terminate in a reentrantly bent flange 20 for contacting the adjacent fin.

As best seen in FIGURE 2, each bracket 15 has an upper arm 21 and a lower arm 22 projecting from the back wall transverse the unit 12. Upper arm 21 has an upwardly projecting portion 23, to which an appropriate louver, not shown, may be hingedly secured for regulating the size of the passage between front and back walls at the top of the unit. Arms 21 and 22 are provided with appropriately angled projections 24 and 25, respectively, at their extremities with which the top and bottom flanges of the front wall member 14 may be engaged. When the front member 14 is engaged With bracket arms 21 and 22, the bottom edge of member 14 is spaced from the floor providing an intake passage for air to the finned tube heater coil. Upper arm 21 may also be provided with holes 26 for pendantly securing thereto a supply line tube, not shown, for the tube v16.

Each bracket 15 is provided with an upturned tongue 27 struck from the portion secured to back wall 13, and an upwardly projecting tongue 28 at the extremity of its lower arm 22 adjacent front wall member 14. Tongue 27 extends inwardly and then upwardly and tongue 28 extends upwardly, then inwardly, and then upwardly, as shown in FIGURE 2. Alternatively, as shown at 28 in FIGURE 8, the tongue adjacent front wall member 14 may extend upward and terminate in an inwardly bent portion at its end.

The upper ends of tongues 27 and 28 are adapted to support elongated plastic track members 30 which are secured longitudinally of tube 16 to the front and back flange portions 18 of the fins 17. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 the fins 17 are sloited longitudinally of tube 16 at 31 forming a continuous groove across the flanges 18, the slot through each flange 18 being made by striking inward a locking tongue 32.

Track member is provided with a longitudinally extending narrow rib 33 terminating in a barbed portion 34 with which the locking tongues 32 are adapted to engage when the rib 33 is inserted into slots 32. Opposite the rib 33, track member 30 is provided with a rectangular portion 35 forming oppositely facing shoulders adapted to rest on the ends of tongues 27 and 23 whether the finned tube assembly 16-17 is inserted as shown or inverted.

On either side of rectangular portion 35, the track member 39 tapers at 37 outwardly away from portion 35 and inwardly toward the fin flange 13. This tapered portion 37 prevents contact of the tongues 27 or 28 with the fins 17, centers the finned tube assembly 16-17 between tongues 27 and 28, and wedges the assembly firmly be tween tongues 27 and 28.

As noted above, the tube and fin assembly 16-17 may be assembled either end up and, since the track members 30 are secured to fins 17 midway between top and bottom, the assembly is supported, whether inverted or not, clear of the bracket lower arms 22. The passage of air up from between front wall 14 and the floor is unobstructed. The passages between the fins 17 are also unob structed except for the very minimal obstruction of the rib 33 on the track members.

The track members 30 substantially fill the spaces between the tube and fin assembly and the front and back Wall members so that the flow of air or convection current is constricted substantially to the spaces between the fins.

In FIGURES 9, l0 and 11 alternate means for securing a track member 30' to a fin 17' are shown. Each flange portion 18 of the fin has an outstruck locking tongue 40, struck from the portion 41 shown in FIGURE 10, the tongues of the aligned fins 17 on tube 16 defining a projecting rib with reentrantly angled opposite sides, as shown, along the finned tube assembly 16-17.

The associated track member 30 is shaped like member 30 except that, instead of rib 33 it is provided with a groove 42 at its center, the crosssectional outline of the groove being complementary to the outline of the locking tongues 40. Track member 30' may be assembled to the rib defined by the locking tongues by bending the track member along its midline so as to bring the converging sides of groove 42 into parallel, or the track member may be slid endwise along the defined rib.

It will be noted that, in this latter modification, there is virtually no obstruction in the passages between the fins 17'.

As will be apparent to those familiar with the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments disclosed therefore are to be considered in all respects as illustrative, rather than restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A heating unit including support elements therefor, comprising in combination, an elongated metal tube, a plurality of metal fins secured to the tube at longitudinally spaced zones therealong and projecting radially therefrom, and a pair of elongated track members secured spaced from the tube on diametrically opposite sides of the fins, the support elements including elongated back and front walls and brackets having arms extending transversely from back to front beneath the tube and fins, the track members being secured intermediate the tops and bottoms of the fins at the back and front of the fins, and the brackets having upstanding tongues back of and in front of the fins, the tongues having end portions in supporting contact with the track members, whereby the spaces between the fins are free of obstructions to convection currents.

2. A heating unit having a front wall and a back wall and including support brackets secured to the back wall for supporting the front wall spaced from the back, comprising in combination, an elongated metal tube, a plurality of spaced metal fins secured to the tube at longitudinally spaced zones therealong and projecting radially therefrom, each fin having a flange at the front and back sides thereof projecting longitudinally of the tube for spacing the fins therealong, and elongated shouldered track members secured to the back and front fin flanges intermediate their top and bottom ends, each bracket having at least one arm projecting from the back wall under the tube and fins and upwardly projecting tongue portions in front and in back of the fins in supporting contact with the track member shoulders, whereby convection currents between the fin bottom ends are free of obstruction.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 characterized by the fin flanges and track members having interengaging ribs and slots for securing the track members to the fins.

4-. The structure defined in claim 3 including portions struck outward of each fin flange defining a rib extending longitudinally of the tube, and each track member having a longitudinally extending groove complementarily conforming to the rib.

5. The structure defined in claim 3 including a slot across each fin flange defining a groove extending longitudinally of the tube, and each track member having a barbed rib therealong for engagement in the slot, each fin flange having a tongue struck therefrom for engagement in the barb of the rib.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,963,276 12/1960 Nelson -55 XR 3,258,066 6/1966 Becher et a1 16555 3,263,746 8/1966 Becher et al 165-67 XR 3,319,708 5/1967 Nelson 165-67 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

M. A. ANTONAKAS, Assistant Examiner. 

